Water inlet system for automatic washing machines



June 30, 1953 H. E. STOCKING WATER INLET SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES Filed Sept. 24, 1949 Figlg Inventor: Harold E. Stocking,

His Attorney.

Patented June 30, 1953 warren INLET .sys'rEMroR AUTOMATIC wasnmc M cn Nns i Harold E. Stocking, Trenton, .N. :Jatas signor .to.

General Electric Company, a corporation .01"

New York fipplicationseptember 24, 19319 ,SerialNolLI'ZJQE invention relates to an improved water inlet conduit and suds .trap for washing machines. I 1

Certain popular types of clothes washing ma..-

chines have a water receptacle or tub within,

which is a basket in which the actual clothes washing takes place. Water for washing and rinsing, and in some cases for pre-soaking'is introduced into the tub, from which it is pumped to the basket. Plumbing codes require afree air clearance of atleast one inch between the end of a water supply nozzle and .the maximum over.- flow spill levelof any vessel which maycontain contaminated water, to prevent a cross-connection between the vessel and the water supply line. Accordingly, it has been the practice to conduct the-water into the tub through a conduit having a funnel mouthinto-which the water supply pipe discharges through the required air gap.

In such washing machines soapy water centrifuged from 'the clothes afterthe washing operation passes into .the -.tub for disposal; and in some types of machines the wash water is continuously circulated from and to the tub during the'entire washing operation to filter lint and other foreign bodies from the washing solution. In either case the tub accumulates a relatively large. amount of .suds which .tend to force: their way rout-through any .tub .wall opening. This may be an annoyance in water inlet conduits of the conventional type in that suds may overflow the funnel mouth and fall to the fioor, and it has been the practice to provide an ordinary U-trap at the connection of the inlet conduit with the tub, the water content of said trap preventing the outflow of suds. Where the water inlet velocity is large, however, the water discharging into the conduit will flow almost completely into the tub and an inadequate water trap remains after the water valve has been closed.

My invention has for a principal object the provision of means which will assure a proper volume of water in the suds trap, and pursuant thereto I provide a novel water inlet conduit having a U-trap characterized by a water-entrapping chamber above a nipple or other suitable fitting discharging into the tub. Water flowing at a high velocity will enter the chamber before flowing into the tub, with the result that after the water valve has closed water remaining in the chamber will fall back into the U-trap to make up any water deficiency and establish an adequate water seal against the outflow of suds.

Other features and advantages of my invention 1 ot (01. at x-1.6)

will :be apparent from the iollowing detailed die-- scription thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which'Fig. l is partial side elevation of awas'hing machine kernloody ing my invention, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation in section of the water conduit taken in section on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

A typical washing machine I includes an outer casing 2 within which is supported a Water tub or receptacle -3. Wi-thin'said receptacle there is is contained a basket orthe like -(not shown) in whichthe clothes are washed, rinsed, and dried. As is known to those skilled in the art said basket usually contains an agitator which is oscillated bysuitable motor driven mec'hanism, the basket then being held stationary, and when it is desired to remove water from the clothes the entire basket is rapidly spun to remove the water by centrifugal action/ "The extracted Wat er passes into-the tub-310i ultimate disposition. According :tothe cycle of operation the water in the 1 tub may be pumped to a discharge drain or re-' turned to the tub. For a more complete description of such washing machines attention is di--' rested-t0 the pending application of Thomas T. Woodson, Serial No. 639,816, filed January 8,

194:6, for Control For AutomaticWashihg Machine and nowPatent 2,561,257 granted. July 17, 1951, and assigned :to v the assignee of the present invention.

There is generally provided a water inlet sys tem including a double valve assembly 4 for connection to the hot and cold water services of the buildin Said valves contain thermostatically controlled means or equivalent for establishing a desired water temperature for the various washing functions. Ordinarily said valves are controlled by individual solenoid means 5 energized by a conventional time-cycle switch (not shown). Generally speaking, the valves individually provide hot water at about 140 F. and warm water at about 100 F. Each valve has its own nozzle or outflow conduit, the hot water valve nozzle being identified at 6, and the warm water nozzle at 1. The hot water valve may discharge into a soap dispenser (not shown) from which a mixture of hot water and soap enters the tub, or directly into the tub itself by spilling in over the top thereof as indicated in Fig. 1. The proper air gap relative to the tub may be established by a saddle clamp 8. Warm water which is used for pre-soaking and rinsing is conveyed to the tub through a conduit system which enters the tub through a side wall at the upper limit of the tobe-expected accumulation of soap suds so as to provide means for breaking up the mass of suds which gathers about the lower portion of the basket and forms an unwanted and detrimental braking force acting to hold the tub against proper speed of rotation. The water inflow is above the normal tub water level, but because it enters the tub below its overflow spill level itis necessary to safeguard against the possibility of a cross connection between the contents of the tub and the potable water supply of the building. It is the practice to position the end of the water supply spout, for example the spout I, at .least one inch above the open end of any connection with the interior of the tub, My improved inflow conduit 9 has a funnel mouth 10 into which the water discharges from the water inlet 1 and, to

therefrom.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course,

that I do not wish to be limited thereto since has a U-trap ll characterized by the substanmany modifications may be made; and I therefore contemplate by the appended claim to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

tially vertical, comparatively small area, legs I 2,

14. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 the conduit 9 may advantageously be stamped of light metal toprovide a flat back wall l5 and a front wall portion I8 which provides the desired shape and cross-sectional area of the funnel mouth and leg portions. The marginal joints may be crimped and soldered for watertightness. The conduit may be aflixed directly to the tub Wall by selftapping screws or equivalent I1 passing through the tub wall and into rear wall member l5. At the discharge end it is essential to have a watertight connection between the leg 14 and the tub; a suitable means comprises a rubber nipple 18 having a thickened end wall 20 grooved to receive the periphery of an opening through wall [5. A portion of the nipple wall 20 is tightly compressed against the tub wall by machine screws 2| which pass through the tub wall and V are secured therein by nuts (not shown). 1

The present invention provides means for retaining within the trap H a sufiicient amount of water to prevent suds escape. I have found that where water flows through the conduit 9 at high speed and directly therefrom into the tub, the water'velocity will carry substantially all of the water through the trap and into the tub after the water valve is shutoff. The result is that there is an inadequate amount of trap water left to provide an adequate suds block. Therefore, I make the leg II of the trap sufiiciently long to provide a chamber 22 above the outflow connec- What I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

"As a new article of manufacture, a combined inlet conduit and suds trap forattachment to a tub, comprising a substantially flat backing plate for direct attachment to the side wall of said tub, said plate being generally U-shaped with one leg predominantly longer than the other and having an aperture provided in the shorter leg below the end thereof, a rounded front plate having an elevational shape corresponding to the back plate and being of coextensive length therewith, said front and back plates being secured about their common margins to provide a tubular conduit having an open end and a closed end, and a nipple having a relatively thick, deformable, end portion fitting tightly about the edge of said back plate opening and extending outwardly from said back'plate to provide a flow connection between said conduit and said tub.

HAROLD E. STOCKING. 

